NEW BLOG ALERT!

Check out my NEW BLOG "A Nikki Situation" .

Things I'm looking forward to in April

1. Spring Break! It is finally here! A break from the children. And getting up early. Warm weather has finally arrived so its time to go shopping for some maxi skirts and shorts. There may be some boo time squeezed in there too ;)

2. Visit to Arizona. During my Spring Break I have the opportunity to visit the boo who is out in on the west coast for work. I lived in California for several years but only drove through Arizona on the move there. I'm so excited to travel there and go sight-seeing. Cross your fingers that I get to make it out to the Grand Canyon. That's all I've been telling A that I want to do so we shall see.

3. Dhyani Chapter Anniversary. Its been 8 years since I became a sister of my sorority, Mu Sigma Upsilon and 8 years since I helped create a chapter at my Alma mater UNC Charlotte. 8 years is QUITE a long time and now we are at 16 lovely ladies in our chapter. Its so awesome to see how much we have grown and all the women who have come into our family.

4. MARGARITA MARCH This is probably one of the coolest things I've found this year. As we all know I LOVE me some bar crawls (if there is a holiday most likely there is a bar crawl for it and most likely I am there!) so I was given the idea for this great thing called the DC Margarita March. Its a bar crawl with margaritas. Enough said. And even better its going to be a reunion for me and a few of my friends. Its also awesome that my parents live up there so of course they will be getting a visit as well. Stay tuned for a post and of course my Instagram will be filled.

5. Spring Break! I'm ready to sleep in and go out during the week!But I also need to do some housekeeping like Spring cleaning! A major overhaul is needed on my room!

6. Personal Training completion. I still haven't gotten a chance to put up any posts about my fitness journey, but I will soon. I signed up for a personal trainer in April 2014 and we are coming to a year. I only had a contract for that long but the progress I have made and the things that I have learned are amazing and I'm excited to be on my own in the gym to see how much further I can go!

7. Cheer Competition. Its year 2 of coaching my elementary schools cheerleading team and I have to say it has gone better than expected. We haven't had many basketball games to cheer at but sadly the season is almost over. The ladies are going to one more game and ending things with a cheer competition! I'm nervous for them but really excited to start choreographing. The end of the month should be interesting!

8. Blog Anniversary. The Bourgie Chronicles turns 3! Hopefully I will be able to celebrate with a new blog design. I'm thinking that I may just gift myself a paid design. Any takers? I've got some sweet color schemes that I want to do!

9. Parents Buying a House! This is a huge accomplishment for my parents! Since my dad is retiring from the Marine Corps its time for the parentals to settle down and stay put. This means getting a place of their own. Yesterday they signed the paperwork and finally had the keys in their hand (on April Fools Day!) They are already choosing paint and jotting down ideas. My mother has also gone Pinterest crazy and is excited for her own dressing room. I love decorating so I'm looking forward to helping her decorate this summer.

10. Spring Break! You don't understand how ready I am! I am still working some jobs (I need money) But Netflix is about to be my friend. I still need to finish Parenthood, watch season 3 of House of Cards, and maybe retry Breaking Bad. Anyone have any other suggestions?

New month, new relationship, new goals, new friends, new ME!

Well not entirely. I'd been already working on myself for a year now. So many negative things were surrounding me in my life at the time and I knew something had to give. And then I realized that it was me who had to give. I gave up negativity, gave up dwelling on the past, and I even gave up fried foods. But it was all for a better me. And even though it's only 3 months into the new year I already feel like this one will be one to remember.

I'm in a new relationship and it has put me in a state of mind that is so positive. I have kept it pretty low key; not many friends know about him so I won't refer to much on here. I guess I'll just call him "A" (cure Pretty Little Liars theme).

My main focus now is creating goals that when accomplished should help me in the long run. I'm getting up there in age so I want to "start my life". First up; taking my test in order to start teaching. Being a teaching assistant has been awesome (winning Teacher Assistant of the Year made it all worth it!) but I'm  ready to get my own students and start molding children's minds!

I also really want to make moves to my own apartment. It's about time to spread my wings and move to bigger and better things. This also may improve the relationship I currently have with my BFFF/roommate.

Is anyone else making big moves this year? What are some new endeavors or projects you are working on?

I must confess...

2014 was definitely not my year for blogging. That is the understatement of the year I'm sure. I seem to recall doing a lot better In 2013 even though that was one of the worst years for me.

18 posts in 11 months. Pretty crappy if I do say so myself. But towards the end of the year my heart just wasn't in it. I was trying to blog all these awesome moments happening and then when I remember I either didn't have time to fully commit to a post, or another adventure came around. And then even worse I would have this great post about coming back and what I wanted to do, but then laziness would kick in and I would read a bunch of blogs and not write any of my own.

I wanted to blog about my fitness/weight loss mission, my relationships woes (and there has been a lot) and any other wonderfully chaotic things going on, but no dice. Then around my birthday in October I realized that when I started back up again blogging I wanted it to be because I actually enjoy it instead wanting people to care about stuff that might only be interesting to me.

And now on my 3rd try (third times a charm) I'm going to come back with a vengeance. Well not as intense, but of course I plan on revamping myself and my blogging ways that work with my busy life right now. I'm ready to blog for me and use it for what it was originally intended. A chronicle of my Bourgie life.

I've got a...

New layout in the works
New blog time (Aside from tonight, Sundays should be my day)
New outlook on life.

So to all my old blog friends I hope you haven't seen the post pop up and roll your eyes. This won't be the last one for months again I promise.

To the new blog friends that I hope to make now that I'm back, hey there! Welcome!!

I guess 28 is looking good on me :)

Xoxo

BLOG BLOG BLOG!

So I'm taking the plunge. After watching this happen for a couple of months I’m wanting to join in on the phone. Hopefully it doesn’t kill me. I’m talking about blogging EVERYDAY in the month of September. Well not everyday, every WEEKDAY. Which I think is awesome because my schedule is cray and I think it would be a hot mess my first go around to blog 7 days a week. Whitney at Observant Turtle is amaze-balls for doing this. Now I get a whole month to not have to think about what to post. Its already done for me! Woot woot. I think this will forceably put me in the habit of blogging and then maybe I wont have 25 unfinished posts waiting to be done! I want to feel more motivated to do them!

Right now my engines are running on full blast balancing the 3 jobs, personal trainer, social/dating life, sorority stuff. But I’m going to make it work. Please don’t think I’m crazy, this is just what is needed in my life. In 2015 shit is going to change, trust me.

Okay, so without further ado, I bring you BLOG IS SEPTEMBER. See how epic I am making this?

Day 1 Reintroduce yourself to your readers.

Hola! I’m Nikki. I blog here at The Bourgie Chronicles.

Basic deets; 27, jobaholic, single, and I live in Charlotte, NC.  It is always the hardest when people ask me to talk about myself. Beyond the intro facts about me what do you really want to know?

I'm a nomadic. I love to travel. I grew up military and moved around a lot as a kid. I don’t really have a hometown, but technically its Hawaii (I know, OMG that sucks!) I lived there for awhile (2 times overall) and graduated high school there, so I call it home. If I could afford it I would totally go back and live forever.

Wonder Woman is my life. Period.

I am obsessed with glitter, leopard and shoes. I collect coffee cups and have an obsession with brunch.

These are all things that can be read in my side bar into on my blog that’s nothing interesting. But still very important to know about me. In fact, I have an About me page that if you really want to skip all this you can always check me out there.

I have recently gotten back into my reading habits and have a huge list of books that I categorized by season (don’t ask why) and I am trying to barrel through them. If you have any suggestions as to what I should read please send me a message! I’m definitely that person who will refuse to see a movie if its based on a book I havent read yet. Then it gets added to the list. I just finished A Fault In Our Stars and The Giver this week so its about that time to check them out.

The last thing I want to share is that I am absolutely a social media whore addict. I love all of it. Instagram (IG as the cool kids are saying), Twitter, SnapChat, and of course Facebook. I Instalurk with the best of them so go ahead and lurk on me too! All of my names are the same! MissNewBourgie.

Boom. Follow, like, @ me, snap, all that. I love new friends and making my timelines never ending!

Hope you havent left yet. Because I still need to catch up. Did anyone notice how I wrote the first prompt on the third day? Yeah….thats because I showed up late to the party and joined in this morning lol. But ill catch up this weekend. Promise.

Busy Busy Bee

Its been 2 weeks since I last wrote a post. But I need to keep my word and do better with posts so that's what I'll do. Starting a new job has been pretty stressful. But I like it. I like the people, the food, and even the hours. Anyone who has ever worked in the restaurant industry knows the real deal. But its a great place. And this place will hopefully help me for now. I am in the process of saving money for my own apartment and just being financially stable for once. 

This weekend was busy, fun, and exhausting. Worked most of the weekend, but I was able to squeeze some free time in. I ended up getting to check out the last day of Charlotte Pride. Each year it gets bigger and bigger. It was nice to see all the love and positive vibes.

I also got the chance to head to a Panther game. Preseason, but still a good time! I'm a Giants fan through and through, but I still like to root for the home team (when they aren't playing my team of course).

Summer is coming to an end so I've been trying to get a couple more fun things in. So I'm thinking a baseball game, brunch and maybe a couple more trips to the pool. School starts on Monday but the fun doesn't have to quite yet. Anyone have any other ideas of stuff I should do before Fall really hits?

Things that I have realized at 27

My birthday is 2 months away so I got to thinking about all the things that have changed. I thought that by this time I would be married or at least planning on it, and more permanent in a career. Currently none of those things are happening. Now as I get closer to 30 I am not as scared as I once was and I have decided to embrace my life as is. I've been telling all my friends that 30 is the new 20. Any else believe that? I have learned quite a bit over the last couple years and I have written down a few that I am willing to confess about.


1. Hangovers. They are the absolute worst. But they are more deadly now that I'm not heading to college night every Thursday. Senior year of college I was an absolute champ. Partying 3 days a week and going to class the next day no problem. I can still party into the night, but the recovery time is longer painless and fixed with a glass of water and some Advil. I need time to re-evaluate my life, roll out of bed, and eat something immediately. And now that could take hours! That means if there is any weekday shenanigans, I have to think very carefully how to approach my next day. I do work in the classroom after all.

2. The junior section of stores is 90% of the time not suitable for me. It makes me sad seeing women forcing themselves into clothes they have no business wearing. Partially in my defense the store is called Forever 21, and I am 27; but if they make my size and I wear it appropriate whats the harm? Buuuuuut not everyone can wear anything just because it comes in your size FYI.

3. Living paycheck to paycheck has become an art form. I have a full time job yes, but that does not mean I always have money. That just is not realistic. Bills Bills Bills rule my world. I certainly know how to make 20 dollars stretch for a whole week.

4. Metabolism. Oh I miss the days of devouring empty calories and staying the same size. Now to counter balance I focus more on the empty calories of alcohol mixed in with eating healthier. Yes that sounds  like a good plan. I also got myself a personal trainer and he makes all the difference. No binge eating for me.

5. Keeping up with friends in high school gets tougher every year unless you live in a small town. It's to the point where I only speak if it's their birthday, or a new baby, or a wedding. Which by the way sucks because 9 times out of 10 I'm too far away to be invited to the wedding, baby shower, or birthday party. Womp womp.

6. My love for fashion has increased ten fold. My desire to be more daring and dress for appropriate occasions have gotten better. Or maybe its my love for shoes. Yes. I just love shoes. Outfits are only necessary in order to wear certain shoes. If I could, I'd go naked and have some hot shoes on. Guess I need to move to a nudist colony.

7. I am no longer dating for fun. Lol I mean it still needs to be fun, but I'm starting to get the itch for settling down...maybe it's because of all the damn weddings and baby showers I've been seeing. I think I'm ready for someone to make an honest woman out of me.

8. My increase in jealousy has come to the forefront. This might be due to social media and the parade of "new job" and "I'm engaged" and "bought a new house". Facebook/Instagram/Twitter breeds the jealousy but I can't look away. I know it's not my time and it's okay for me to feel this way. This just means that when it happens for me I'm going to have a freakin parade. Okay maybe not that much pomp and circumstance. But there will be a party.

XOXO

Confessions of a Blogaholic Link Up

Weekend Marathon

I had a pretty hectic weekend. It has been awhile since I've had plans everyday. From Thursday to Sunday. No stopping. But it was all a good time. I'm still getting back in my "take pictures of everything in anticipation of blogging" mode. But for now check out my jam packed weekend.

these crazy kids...

Thursday: Spent the day volunteering with Nicole's church Elevation. They have something called "Love Week" every year where everyone goes out into the community of Charlotte to give back and spread the "love". I've known about it for awhile but this is the first year taking part. Me and the roomies all decided to volunteering renovating a house in East Charlotte. Painting, yard work, etc. Good times.

The evening was really long and exhausting. But so much fun. Met up with some friends to see a Michael Jackson cover band...but it rained out and no performance. So what do you do when that happens? Bar hop around the city and try to avoid the rain (the weekend ending up being so gray and rainy). Highlight of my night. Eating some amazing Queso at VidaVida. Good food moves me to photograph it, so it only makes sense that this is the only picture I have of the night.

Friday: Had a friend in town so I mustered up the energy to go out again. Hit uptown to Cosmos. Thought I was really being creative with my Snapchat right here. Plus my makeup looks on point. 

Saturday: Early morning work. This time; Senior Basketball 3 on 3. I'm talking 50 and over running up and down the court (well half of the court) and shooting 3 pointers better than a lot of guys I see my age. They've still got it and it goes to show you that even though you get to a certain age, you can still do what you love. Just take care of yourself.

I spent my night with some of my favorite people. I met up with some of my best friends from college who are in my sorority with me for dinner and drinks afterward. It was so nice to catch up! The Plaza Midwood area of Charlotte is pretty nice. I had been to a couple places but not on a weekend. I love the casual atmosphere even though my attire didn't match. I wish I had gotten a full picture of my outfit that night. I was channeling the 90s with my high waited acid wash jeans, white pumps, and black blazer. I was taking it out for a test spin and it was a hit! Anyone else getting more into 90s fashion? Or just taking more risks in general?

Sunday I started my Job #3 as a hostess (more on that later), so my morning was spent training. And in the evening I watched the Giants play in their first game of the season. Its preseason, but still a win is a win. My GMen were looking pretty good out there! Lets hope that its a preview of great things to come. Anyone else overcome with joy that its time for football????

Hope everyone has a great week!

Monday Morning Gossip Weekend Recap

Hello August...I'm back!

So it’s a new month.  My Hiatus is over, again. This time I’m going to stay on the plan. I may sound like I’m an addict trying to stay sober for the umpteenth time, but that’s okay. I realized in the last 2 months how much I need blogging. It’s become something that I use for sanity, strength, and clarity. That’s a lot of pressure on something that is supposed to be just a fun hobby. But with all the things I have going on right now, it’s very much needed. Summer is almost over and I plan to spend these last couple weeks developing my “habit” again. But I am not going to be over ambitious and blog every day. For now, I’ll give myself 3 days a week. Maybe 4 if there is a special occasion. We will see how that goes.

My need for structure (military kid) and lack of stability in my life recently (job, friends, money) has caused me to miss what blogging did for me. It became work and I avoided it as much as possible. But when I got a chance to read some of my favorite blogs, I suddenly was recharged again and wanted to comment and use some new blog ideas I had. Very quickly the motivation fizzled out as soon as something frustrating happened in my life. That actually should have been the time that my computer was attached to me; using writing as an outlet and giving me something positive to focus on.

So this time I want to blog again because it makes me happy and I enjoy that connection I have made over the years with the community. I want to build that back up again. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the year has in store for me.

Now being that it is Friday, I thought I would also do a little recap of how my week went so I can say goodbye to July on a good note.

1. Tried 2 new Pinterest recipes this weekend. 1 was a success and the other was a mere “Eh”. I will definitely be doing posts on those because I need to share with the world the improvement of my cooking skills. Or maybe the improvement of following directions.

2. I got a call on Tuesday that I got the Hostess position I interviewed for last week! I’m excited because I needed for more money coming in. 2 months late but it’s still happening. I am now officially a “Jamaican” with all the jobs I have now (if you have never heard that joke, don’t worry about it. It’s a Caribbean thing, being that I am Guyanese).

3. I’ve been on 2 dates with the same guy. I’m starting to branch out and be more open to the idea of new people.  Dating such a trial and error. I can’t believe I wanted to do it so bad when I was IN a relationship. Grass is always greener on the other side I guess. But we will see how things go with this guy. For now he’s someone I can continue chilling with.

4. It’s not exactly a highlight, but things have been going well with my personal trainer, but I suffered my first “injury” with him. Box jumps are not for the faint of heart and I was able to reach my goal of hitting the highest box, but not before achieving an abdominal strain. Right below my bellybutton feels like something ripped. Luckily it’s not too serious. But me and icy hot have become very good friends lately.

5. NSYNC released a compilation album. Well the record company did, not actually the guys. If that’s not a great highlight to my week I don’t know what is! This will be ordered ASAP!

High Five For Friday

Johnnyswim

I spent an evening last week with my best friend in the NoDa Art District. We were at the Neighborhood Theatre and I have to say the venue is pretty cool. Very open, relaxed atmosphere and acoustically awesome (you could hear them clearly in any part of the building!)

We had the pleasure of getting to see JohnnySwim. They are a married duo from Nashville and they are amazing. The woman Amanda Sudano is Diana Ross' daughter! Talk about talent! Now I remember seeing a song by them in 2013 called Heartbeats and I loved it, but then I didn't hear about them again until this year when Nicole told me about their album finally coming out and they were headed to Charlotte on tour. Apparently I'm the last one in the house to listen to them because both of my roomies have been blasting them over the last couple of months. 

Their opener was named Liz Longley and she is great! Another artist coming out of Nashville I was really able to relate to most of her songs and my friend even bought her CD. She was out front selling them herself btw so we got to talk to her and everything. I didn't get to record any videos of her because of memory saving tactics on my phone, but enjoy this grainy action pic and a YouTube video of the song I love called "Camaro". This is my absolute favorite of hers. Mostly because I relate to it completely. Dealing with heartbreak is rough.

"Camaro"

So before the Johnnyswim concert I listened to their new album on repeat and I have to say I quickly developed some favorites. Check out their album "Diamonds" if you get a chance. You won't regret it. I only videoed snippets of my favorites. Take the World, A Million Years, and Pay Dearly are at the top. Enjoy my videos and pics, even though they do not do them justice!

 Heartbeats Video

 A Million Years (close you eyes and the video wont be so bad lol)